Surface cleaner for previously polished surfaces



Feb. 4, 1969 c. w. MARSH 3,425,870

SURFACE CLEANER FOR PREVIOUSLY POLISHED SURFACES Filed Nov. 9, 1964 Z YW /i A L I Him, a ||||||||I||||l|l (bar/ea W. Mars/7 1N VENTOR. 7 (/45404714 A, 4 M26; Byf A d-95217 ATTORNEY! United States Patent 8 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention is directed to a methodof, and a compound for, removing deposits from previously polishedsurfaces, the compound being comprised of a mixture of volcanic ashhaving a coplanar crystalline structure, cerium oxide and colored chalk.The method involves applying a specific amount of moisture to thecompound before cleaning.

This invention relates to a compound and method for the cleaning ofpreviously polished surfaces, and more particularly relates to a methodfor removing water deposits from glass, aluminum, stainless steel,chrome plated surfaces, ceramic tiles, and the like.

It is well recognized in the art that surfaces, such as glass, arepolished in stages, typically first by grinding, then finishing, andfinally polishing the glass. A number of abrasives have been used forthese purposes, including cerium oxide, jewelers rouge, pumice, and thelike, all having been disclosed in such patents as Nos. 2,816,824,2,830,884, 2,967,096, and other similar patents. The present inventiondoes not relate to a compound which is capable of being used forabrasive polishing in the manner disclosed in these preceding patents.

As is well known in the various hard water areas of the United States,when water containing dissolved residues is allowed to evaporate onpolished surfaces, such as glass, a water deposit is left on the glass.This water deposit is made up of various minerals, depending upon theparticular geographical location, but usually includes an abundance ofcalcium. For example, in the high plains area of Texas and Oklahoma, thewater which leaves deposits of this nature is colloquially called gypwater because it contains large quantities of gypsum, calcium or lime.When this water is allowed to evaporate on a polished surface such asglass or stainless steel, a generally whitish residue or deposit willremain on the surface and it adheres thereto tenaciously. Many differentcompounds and abrasives have been used in the past to remove thisdeposit but no great success has heretofore resulted.

When abrasives such as pumice or jewelers rouge are used to remove thesedeposits, the result is usually that the surface is scratched, defacedand/or the luster is removed from the finished surface. In addition tocompounds of this nature, attempts have been made to remove these waterdeposits by means of steel wool, razor blades, and other forms ofscrapers. Similarly, various chemical means, such as detergents, havebeen tried, but the water deposits remain and continue to adheretenaciously.

The present invention is directed to an improved method and compound forparticular use in removing these water deposits from highly polishedsurfaces, while at the same time not scratching or otherwise defacingthe surface.

In attaining this object, it is essential that the compound be harmlessin the hands of a housewife, and thus should contain no acid and shouldbe nontoxic. Further, the compound must be incapable of scratching thesurface intended to be cleaned. Each of these conditions are met by theherein disclosed invention.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a surfacecleaner which contains an indicator to provide a visual indication as tothe desired degree of wetness of the compound for polishing thesurfaces.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a surfacecleaner which contains a very fine polishing compound to remove anysurface scratches or to polish any scratches on particularly softsurfaces.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a methodfor removing water deposits from previously polished surfaces whichincludes wetting a soft cloth with water, charging the vwetted clothwith a particular cleaning compound, rubbing the deposited surface withthe cloth and wiping the surface dry to remove the loosened deposit.

Other and further objects, features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following description of a presently preferred embodiment of theinvention, given for the purpose of disclosure, taken in conjunctionwith the accompaying drawings in which like reference numerals are usedthroughout the several views, and where:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the compound showing the ingredients,

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the crystal structure, and

FIGURE 3 is a top view of the crystal shown in FIG- URE 2.

The invention in its compound form generally comprises a mixture ofcoplanar crystalline volcanic ash, blue chalk, and cerium oxide as thedry ingredients which are sprinkled on a moistened cloth to form a pastewhich is used to rub away the water deposits.

With reference now to FIGURE 1, the reference numeral 10 generallyrefers to a particle of volcanic ash, while the reference numeral 12generally refers to a particle of cerium oxide. As mentioned above, thecompound also includes blue chalk and water, but as is well known, chalkdissolves in 'water and both have been eliminated from the drawing forpurposes of clarity. The volcanic ash 10 is an essential ingredient inthe compound and generally has a chemical analysis identical to pumiceand pumicite, and the following is a typical analysis:

Percent Silica 71 Aluminum oxide 14.23 Alkalies 7.57 Water loss onignition 3.81 Iron oxide 1.75 Magnesium oxide 0.90 Calcium oxide 0.54Moisture 0.20

Because pumice, pumicite and volcanic ash all have essentially the samechemical analysis, it is important to distinguish between theseminerals, because their physical features are radically dilferent.Pumice is typically described as a porous, weathered lava which ishighly cellu lar and glassy. Pumicite, on the other hand, is composed ofhard and glossy fragments of volcanic glass. Finally, it must beunderstood that volcanic ash comes in several crystalline forms and thepresent invention is concerned with only one of these. Thus, volcanicash is usually found as a tetrahedral solid having a multitude ofirregularly disposed facets. As can be seen from FIGURE 1, the volcanicash 10 which forms the essential part of the present compound comprisesa crystalline structure having two flat parallel surfaces 14 and 16,which are joined by an irregular number of edges 18 perpendicular tothese parallel surfaces.

As can be seen with reference to FIGURES 2 and 3, the edges 18 are allperpendicular to surface 14 (and likewise surface 16), although there isno particular angular relationship between the various edges 18 or thenumber thereof. In its overall aspect, the volcanic ash crystal 10generally resembles a flake much like flake graphite. So far as ispresently known, only one deposit of volcanic ash with this crystallinestructure exists, and this is located near Laverne, Oklahoma. All otherexamples of volcanic ash which have been examined do not include theflat surfaces 14 and 16. Throughout this application, the term coplanaris used to describe a crystal having these par ticular flat, parallelsurfaces with the edges being perpendicular thereto.

In addition to the particular crystalline volcanic ash 10, the compoundalso includes cerium oxide 12, blue chalk, and water. The principalfunction of the blue chalk is to act as an indicator to give a visualindication of the desired degree of moisture or wetness of the compound.Thus, when the compound is sprinkled on a moistened soft cloth it isoriginally a light blue or gray color. As the compound absorbs waterfrom the cloth, it becomes progressively bluer until a dark blue coloris attained. The addition of further water to the cloth after the dankblue color is attained serves no useful purpose and merely results indissolving the chalk and staining the cloth.

So far is is known, the blue chalk provides no other benefit except asthat of an indicator for the amount of water. It therefore follows thatvarious other colors of chalk may be used, and further that all chalkmight be eliminated if the user is careful to supply the proper amountof moisture. When other colors are used, water is added until the pastereaches a deep shade of the particular color used. '-It has been foundthat from to of the total weight of the product may be blue chalk.

As mentioned, colors other than blue may be used for the chalk, but theparticular advantage of blue chalk lies in its visual contrast withsurfaces ordinarily being cleaned, as Well as its tendency to make whitesurfaces appear truly white. Red chalk has been successfully used inthis application, but it tends to stain grout and other porous surfacesa slight pink color, which some housewives find objectionable.

Although the actual working characteristics of this compound are notfully understood, it is believed that the moistened cloth grips thecoplanar crystals of volcanic ash and allows them to be pushed along thesurface to be cleaned with either of the flat parallel surfaces 14 or 16against the surface to be cleaned. In this condition, it is believedthat the edges 18 act as chisels or cutting edges to remove the waterdeposits, but since they are perpendicular to the surface being cleaned,they do not dig in and do not distort the surface. The function of thecerium oxide 12 is to act as a fine polisher of the surface and toremove any existing minute surface scratches and further to remove anyslight scratches which might be caused in seating the coplanar crystalsparallel to the surface to be cleaned.

This action is to be contrasted with that of the usual polish orabrasive which has irregular shaped crystals of pumice specificallydesigned to dig into the surface being cleaned and thus render apolishing action by removing a portion of the surface. The coplanar orflake crystalline structure of the volcanic ash of the present inventionis thus seen to be quite important and essential to prevent thisabrading action such as is found in the prior polishing compounds. Thecerium oxide is added in quantities of 0.5% to 25% while the blue chalkmay vary from 0 to 10%. The preferred percentages, by weight, of thevarious ingredients are 2.5% of blue chalk, 1.75% of cerium oxide andthe remainder being coplanar crystalline volcanic ash. The cerium oxideis graded to pass through 400 mesh screen while the volcanic ash isgraded to pass through 200 mesh screen. However, finer grades of ceriumoxide may be used, and as the compound is being used, finer grades areproduced because cerium oxide tends to break into smaller and smallerparticles.

.In use, from O to 10% of blue chalk and from 0.5% to 25% of ceriumoxide are mixed with coplanar crystalline volcanic ash to make a drycompound. Thereupon, when it is desired to remove water deposits from apreviously polished surface, such as glass, a soft cloth is wetted withwater and a small amount of the cleaning compound is sprinkledthereupon. As the water from the cloth is absorbed by the compound, apaste is formed and the blue chalk, acting as an indicator, will turn toa deep blue color, thus indicating that the moisture content issufficient. T hereupon, the charged cloth is rubbed upon the polishedsurface having the water deposits to loosen the deposits. With glasshaving water deposits, the rubbing may be stopped when the glass beginsto squeak, because this is an obvious indication that there are nofurther deposits on the glass. As the water deposits are removed fromthe various surfaces, the drag of the charged cloth changes appreciably,thus indicating that the deposits have been loosened. Thereupon, thesurfaces are wiped dry, thus removing the loosened deposit, resulting ina thoroughly cleaned and polished surface which, advantageously, is notscratched by the present compound.

The present invention, therefore, is well adapted to carry out theobjects and attains the ends and advantages mentioned, as well as othersinherent therein. While a presently preferred embodiment of theinvention has been given for the purpose of disclosure, numerous changesin the details of construction and the combination, shape, size,arrangement of parts and uses may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved surface cleaner for removing water deposits frompreviously polished surfaces consisting essentially of an aqueous pasteof cerium oxide and volcanic ash, the volcanic ash comprising a coplanercrystalline structure having two flat parallel surfaces with all of theedge surfaces being perpendicular to these fiat parallel surfaces.

2. An improved surface cleaner for removing water deposits frompreviously polished surfaces consisting essentially of an aqueous pastecontaining, on a dryingredient basis, from 0 to 10% chalk of a specifiedcolor, from 0.5 to 25% cerium oxide, and with the remainder beingvolcanic ash, the volcanic ash consisting of a coplaner crystallinestructure having two fiat parallel sur faces with all of the edgesurfaces being perpendicular to these parallel flat surfaces.

3. The surface cleaner of claim 2 wherein the chalk comprisesapproximately 2.5% and the cerium oxide comprising approximately 1.75%of the total dry ingredients.

4. The surface cleaner of claim 2 wherein the specified color of thechalk is blue.

5. An improved method of removing water deposits from previouslypolished surfaces comprising,

wetting a cloth with water, charging the wetted cloth with a mixtureconsisting essentially of coplaner crystalline volcanic ash, ceriumoxide, and chalk of a specified color,

adjusting the water content until a paste is formed of said mixture andthe color of the paste is a deep shade of said specified color,

rubbing the deposited surface with the wet charged cloth, and

wiping the surface dry, thereby removing the loose deposit.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the mixture is comprised of no morethan 25 by weight of cerium oxide and no more than 10% by weight ofchalk on a dryingredient basis.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the percentage by weight of chalk issubstantially 2.5 and the percentage by weight of cerium oxide issubstantially 1.75.

5 8. The method of claim 5 wherein the specified color of the chalk'isblue, and the step of adjusting the Water content is further defined asadjusting the Water content until the paste is deep blue.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,560,659 11/1925 Burket 513078/1945 Polan 51309 6 OTHER REFERENCES Bennett, H., Chemical andTechnical Dictionary, Chemical Publishing 00., New York, 1947; p. 978.

5 MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

BARRY S. RICHMAN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

